DC Declaration of Learning 2021-2022

Business card for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner W. Cardell Shelton (1930-2017).

Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC) are a hyper-local form of government in Washington, DC.

DC has eight wards; while the boundaries are updated based on the Decennial Census, the number of wards remains constant. Each ward is further divided into ANCs. Each ANC area is subdivided into a number of smaller areas, called single member districts. The number of ANCs changes over time due to periodic population-based redistricting (in 2021, there are 40 ANCs, and 296 single member districts.). Each advisory neighborhood commissioner is elected by their neighbors, represents 2,000 residents of the city in their single member district, and receives no pay for their service in this non-partisan position. Many local political careers begin with ANC appointments.

The creation of the ANC system stems from the 1973 Home Rule Act, which returned limited local representation to the residents of Washington, DC, allowing them to elect a city council, as well as elect a mayor for the first time in 100 years. Before that, White males in DC were able to elect their own mayor from 1812-1870 (albeit initially via an elected city council). Then the District was ruled first by an appointed governor, and then an appointed commissioner system, from 1870-1967. From 1967-1973, following a reorganization of the city's government, the District was governed by an appointed position called a mayor-commissioner. The first 20th-century mayoral election occurred in 1974.

According to the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Historical List compiled by the DC Board Elections covering ANC elections from 1979 through 2012, William Cardell Shelton Jr. was elected ANC for 6C07 in 1984 and 1986, at his home address listed as 1930 Martin Luther King, Jr Avenue SE, and then for 8C07 in 2006 and 2008 from 115 Upsal St SE. (Note: Before 2003, ANC 6C referred to an area east of the Anacostia River that is now part of ANCs 7B and 8A.).

Shelton’s biography for a 2004 bid for a seat on the City Council indicated that he served as ANC for 6C07 from 1980-1992, and indicates he was a member of the D.C. Republican Party, American Legion, National Association of Disabled Veterans, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Southeast Business Merchants Association, and the D.C. Contractors Guild.

In addition to serving as a commissioner, Shelton was a well-known community activist. As a 1996 Washington Post article noted, “It being an election year, it’s no surprise that Republican W. Cardell Shelton is trying to oust Democrat Eydie Whittington from her Ward 8 seat on the City Council.”

Link to Catalog Record: E 0999.003
Link to PDF: E 0999.003

DCPS Cornerstones Curricular Connections 

Social Studies 

Grade 12 DC History and Government - Home Rule

English Language Arts 

Grade 3 ELA - A Right and a Responsibility

DCPS Standards

Social Studies

3.2. Students understand the basic structure of the Washington, DC, government.

12.DC.22.6: Review the reasons why Washington, DC, residents do not have voting representation in Congress, and assess the prospects for current efforts to get congressional representation for the District.

English Language Arts 

W.3.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

Common Core Standards 

Literacy in History/Social Studies

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

DC History Center publications

Published materials in the DC History Center's Printed Materials Collection

Pub. L. 93-198. District of Columbia Charter Act.

Also known as the Home Rule Act. What is referred to as "Advisory neighborhood councils" is outlined in section 738. These councils "may advise the District government on matters of public policy including decisions regarding planning, streets, recreation, social services programs, health, safety, and sanitation in that neighborhood council area..."

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Historical List

Historical data of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners who were elected during elections held in the District of Columbia between November 1979 through November 2012.

Look up your ANC and SMD

DC government site that maps home addresses to corresponding Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and Single Member Districts.

DC Public Library database to the full run of the Washington Star

Accessible with a DCPL library card, this database offers the full run of the Star, from 1852-1981.